Page 2 - 01-Global-War-on-Terror

Global War on Terror: The Cost Pakistan is Paying

the occupation in Africa and the Middle East. The 1960s
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brought an international scope to terrorism ….” Terrorism,
with the advancement in the means of communication,
transportation and technology became transnational in
character.

Terrorists can now easily get economic and political
support and propagate their cause and motives. Thus in the
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20 and 21 Centuries, terrorism has continuously grown. The
th
st
Global Terrorism Database (GTD) from 1970-2007 compiled
80,000 events of terrorist attacks at the domestic and
international level . The dawn of the new century saw novel
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dimensions and trends of the said phenomenon. Today
terrorists aim to achieve larger casualties with fewer incidents,
while threats of religious, nuclear, biological, chemical ethnic,
state, cyber, economic and trans-national terrorism confront
the inhabitants of the world . While new forms of terrorism
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are yet to be seen such as maritime terrorism.
Definition of Terrorism

There are ample chances of the repetition of the
definitions. Which reveals that there is no single accepted
definition of the term and even the US government has failed
to provide a single accepted definition. The old saying that
“One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter” is even
today an accepted fact. The term is defined as under:-

 Walter Laqueur: Terrorism constitutes the
illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective
while targeting innocent people .
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 FBI Definition: Terrorism is the unlawful use of
force or violence against persons or property to
intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian
population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of
political or social objectives. 9

 Terrorism is the use or threat of violence against small
numbers to put large numbers in fear or as stated by an
ancient Chinese philosopher: kill one, frighten 10, 00. 10

2 Margalla Papers 2011